Our tour is based in the beautiful Renaissance city of Florence. We are staying in a lovely, centrally located 4-star hotel. 

We start and end the tour in Florence. During the week, we take day trips to explore small villages in the Chianti region and a day in Emilia Romagna, visiting Modena and Bologna, home to parmigiano cheese and traditional balsamic vinegar. Our evening meals will be in Florence. We have chosen some of our favorite spots and curated the meals to get a real taste of what Tuscany has to offer.

We begin in the heart of the city by exploring the fabulous city market, which opened in 1865.  The original market downstairs is perfect for picking up some ingredients to take home for your Tuscan pantry. We will enjoy a family-style lunch at a nearby 100-year-old trattoria, and after lunch, we will go on a guided walking tour of the historic center of Florence. Florence is a breathtaking open-air museum.

We will be traveling outside of Florence into the countryside to the south, the Chianti wine region to visit excellent wineries, olive oil producers, and world-class restaurants. We will be educated by Judy’s long time friends who will share insights into the secrets to Tuscan food and wine. We will visit a local olive oil maker for a guided tasting of their oils. After the tasting, we have some time to explore the beautiful piazza in town.

After shopping, we head to the tiny town of Panzano to have lunch at the famous butcher, Dario Cecchini. Judy worked with Dario from 1998-2000 and is part of the family. We will have lunch in one of Dario’s restaurants at the butcher shop, served family style,( there is a vegetarian menu as well).

After lunch, we will go to the tiny village for a wine-tasting tour. The village was gifted to the current owner as a wedding present. 

Our hands-on cooking class is at a working farm near San Gimignano. Class includes learning to roll your own fresh pasta like an Italian nonna. We prepare our own meal and enjoy it with an incredible view of San Gimignano. The food we prepare is almost all produced at the farm. They raise cattle, pigs, grow vegetables, wine, honey and saffron. We will visit San Gimignano after class and will have a gelato at one of Italy’s most famous shops. The gelato maker trains the Italian pastry team for the Pastry olympics.

Our culinary tour continues to Emilia Romagna:

An early morning departure from Florence to Modena allows us to see the actual making of parmigiano reggiano. We will visit a family-owned cattle farm ( 1,500 cows) and see the process involved in creating the gold of Italian cheeses. A tasting follows the tour. After the tasting we will visit a balsamic vinegar maker and have lunch in the countryside before heading to Bologna for a walking tour of the historic center. The offerings in the food shops in Bologna are like no other region of Italy.

Emilia Romagna is home to fresh pasta. Tortellini, Ravioli, Tagliatelle and Lasagna are signature dishes from Bologna, where their official ragu recipe is registered with the city. It is THE ragu recipe.

On our last day, we end the tour with a walking tour of the “oltr’arno,” the bohemian side of the city where artisan workshops are hidden away in small alleyways. Lunch will be a fabulous cheese and wine pairing at a cheese and wine bar owned by Judy’s friend. They are bringing in an artisan cheese from Chianti for us to do a special tasting of sheep’s milk cheese paired with local wines.

Then you will have free time for last-minute shopping and packing, our farewell dinner is at a famous family-owned restaurant near the hotel.

Included in the tour is a digital app for Florence created by Judy. We are focusing  on a one of a kind food experience, you should consider if you want to see museums, coming early or adding on days at the end of the trip  ( The Accademia for Michelangelo’s David and the Uffizi Gallery are the most important and you need to reserve tickets in advance.)